Ken Burns: Civil War

I am a history geek. My favorite time period is the Civil War. In 1990, when Ken Burns documentary aired on PBS I was stunned. It captured the reality of the war. The good, bad and ugly of our nation's past.

There are some historians who maintain the Civil War had nothing to do with freeing the slaves. It was a matter of economics. To try to separate the two issues is impractical.

Ken Burns presents the subject matter factually and leaves it to the viewers to draw their own conclusion.

PBS is airing the program tonight. Good stuff.........

Middle Class England not so jollly

Now maybe the middle class will finally join forces with their true brethren.

Work interferes with sex life

HHHMMM talk about cruel working conditions.......

Park it, park it real good

A welcome diversion......

Mr. Jarboe, plays Hardball in Harlem

Maybe Bill Maxwell could pick up a few pointers from Andrew Jarboe..........

A dead dream or nightmare for the professor?

I read Bill Maxwell's piece and came away with mixed feelings. I was saddened and disturbed by the attitudes of the students. But I was a more than little annoyed about the tone. Clearly, the story was all about HIM.

These students were not "wowed" by the fact, they were object of his attention. I guess they were supposed to be thrilled they became his little project.

Unfortunately, many of these students were not properly prepared to be in college students. Some were struggling just to get through the day. Who pays their bills if they miss a shift to attend a field trip? Will they lose their low paying jobs if they ask for the time off?

It is not easy to work your way through college. Its harder, when a foundation or support system does not exist. Mr. Maxwell chose to work in this environment. He obv had or made opportunities which lead him to a different place in this world.

What drove him to this awful place? Did he want to make a difference? Really? Or was this stop to add to his resume? Worse, was he using this adventure to develop a story for a movie of the week about how he saved these students?

When the students did not move on Maxwell's manufactured game board, according to his worldview, he maligned them.

As for the registrar's office employees, this nonsense goes on in most institutions. Ask any student trying to make changes to schedules, obtain grades or get a copy of your transcript. Anybody with a degree has a registrar's war story.

For him to condemn these students is just sad. This smacks of the folks who pretend to be poor, write about it, then return to their comfortable life.

Shame on him.

William "Freezer Burned Cash" Jefferson

A surprise to no one, a jury indited Jefferson. I really don't see the drama, doesn't everybody keep stacks of cash in their freezer?

Reflections

We all experience "turning points" in our lives, generally brought on by unexpected events. Even if at the time, the event may seem tragic, when you have time to "reflect" upon it, the situation was for the best, sometimes.

Clearly, Booman is facing "life". I hope you join me in keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

Hang in my friend.

See ya on the other side: Steve Gilliard

Steve was a member of the Booman Tribute team. He crossed to the other side on Saturday morning.

His passionate voice will be missed.

Working Class Warrior

Suburban Guerrilla found a kindred spirit who is fighting on behalf of the new "Silent Majority."

Rich: Bush, Epic Blunderer

I doubt if I will ever find a warm spot in my heart for Shrub. It is unlikely, Shrub will ever evolve into an elder statesman. Nixon, at least used his brain.

Krugman: Timidity of Hope

Krugman weighs in Obama's Health Plan.

Herbert: Security abuse authority

Parents want their students to learn in a safe environment. For lowly paid overly aggressive security guards to subject the students to this despicable behavior is just terrible.

This behavior is condoned and brought to by New York's leadership.

Lieberman, Please stop talking?

Excuse me CT voters, you voted for Lieberman. NOW, you want him to stop talking. The rest of the country MAY forgive you for the gift that just keeps giving.

BTW, how much is a roundtrip ticket to Iraq for his latest field trip to Iraq?

Dan Barlett walks

Dan Barlett choses family over Bush.

Unexpected job growth in May

Its wonderful there was an unexpected surge in new jobs. The key question is do these service-sector jobs pay livable wages?

Griffin resigns

Vote caging request leads to resignation of a Rove protege'.

"Hard to be Civil"

Neon Gods writes letter to his Congressman demanding impeachment.

Murdoch just won't stop

If Murdoch buys the Dow Jones it would not be good. How many news venues would he own? Ugh.

Brooks: Back to Basics

I really thought that Thompson would wait to the fall to jump in the fray. If Thompson campaigns on the "Back to Basics" theme, I sure will hear a feel good theme "Its morning in America."

All fluff but no substance. But the Republican base on the percentage of the population that still thinks Bush was right will rally around Thompson. God help us.